Integrated planning can be described as different actors and sectors working together under a commonly designed agenda and realigning individual priorities to produce a commonly defined objective or product.

This is precisely the goal of the National Integrated Planning and Programme (NIPP) Unit, which was officially launched on April 25.

Established in August 2018, the Resilient Infrastructure Initiative seeks to establish new evidence based national infrastructure planning and programme paradigm across all relevant government agencies. The unit is also responsible for defining the overarching vision, strategy and roadmap for the development of the national infrastructure agenda, by assessing the current and future infrastructural needs of agencies and the overall public service, and ensuring that financial and capital resources align with national priorities.

According to the Hon. Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, the launching of the NIPP Unit is a milestone for his administration, as they noticed upon assuming office in 2016, that the area needing urgent attention was that of infrastructural development.

NIPP Unit Director Haward Wells said the unit must undertake key activities include the collection and categorizing of all existing infrastructure data within one central database, to define the overarching vision. Another major activity to be undertaken by the NIPP is the review of Saint Lucia’s National Vision Plan which was approved in 2008.

Providing support to the National Integrated Planning and Programme Unit will be the United Nations Officer for Project Services (UNOPS) as well as the University of Oxford.

The NIPP Unit will not replace any existing structure or agency within the Government of Saint Lucia. Instead, the unit is mandated to network with all departments to provide strong evidence-based assessments necessary for the justification and alignment of infrastructure plans and strategies to the country’s national infrastructure priorities.